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ok, Next was horrible (sorry, it just was) and NT was not even up to decent, it wasn't a disaster, but it was one of those 'not worth watching in a theater' movies....and i'm not bashing travolta - he was great in hairspray, and he's had a couple of decent movies recently....but cage is a whole new level of washed up....

also, like i emphasised time and time again, being a good actor is NOT about 'the numbers'....i'm not disproving you with numbers cRAzY, in fact i did qualify my argument by saying it doesn't matter if cage is super-rich....you don't care how many people watched ryan gosling in 'Lars', but we respect him as an awesome actor, possibly a great one day....that's what i'm saying cage had the potential to be, but after Face/Off, it's like he just stepped into an abyss and hasn't hit ground yet....it's his credibility as a serious actor that's in tatters, and it just bothers me when some one with so much obvious potential gets it so horribly wrong EVERY....SINGLE....TIME!!!!

I thought Cage was pretty good in Matchstick Men. I liked that movie, but it seems I'm the only one

I loved National Treasure. I really enjoy those types of movies. I thought Windtalkers was a great movie. I haven't seen Lord of War yet but all my friends say it was great. Gone in 60 Seconds was absolutely amazing. That's my favorite Cage film. So I personally don't think he has screwed up every single time. I think he is hit or miss. That's just my opinion

i'll give you gone in 60 seconds, mainly because i loved it too....but it wasn't the pseudo-classic that face/off has turned into....it's close, but not quite there....

as for windtalkers, i think it felt like a cheap knockoff of saving private ryan....the storyline didn't have to be the same, but the way it was shot and directed, etc....just gave me a feeling of trying to ride the wave that was saving private ryan's awesome success....

so it's been one hit and so many misses you can't even count them....tell me if a man like cage couldn't do waaaaay better than that!!!!

Okay, being the devoted Cage fan that I am, I'm gonna chime in real quick...

Cage hits since Face/off(quality-wise)
1.Snake Eyes 1998
2.8mm 1999
3.Bringing out the Dead 1999
4.Gone in 60 seconds 2000
5.The Family Man 2000
6.Adaptation 2002
7.Matchstick Men 2003
8.Lord Of War 2005
9.The Weather Man 2005

Cage hits since Face/off(box office-wise)
1.City of Angels 78mil
2.Snake Eyes 55mil
3.Gone in 60 Seconds 101mil
4.The Family Man 75mil
5.National Treasure 173mil
6.World Trade Center 70mil
7.Ghost Rider 115mil

A lot of the first list is arguable...I haven't seen Windtalkers, Next, World Trade Center, National Treasure or even The Ant Bully. I think the point is that cage does make some bad choices. When he chooses correctly however, he nails it! But when he chooses incorrectly he absolutely sucks.
He can still make entertaining films a lot of the time too, but most recently he's pulled a Keanu Reeves, doing every single film that comes his way.

some sticks some doesn't

stnman, i kind of disagree with a lot of those movies....i've already given GI60Seconds....but none of the others which i have seen....and i've seen several of them....impressed me in any way whatsoever....and like i said before, it's not about the money the movie makes....if the public could decide good acting for themselves, do you think movies like ghost rider, wild hogs, epic movie, date movie would even get off the ground??

i'm talking about a solid acting performance from cage, and in regards to your point about cage pulling a keanu, i think i agree without a doubt, many of the roles he's picked are just flat out bad choices, which not many actors could turn out well....but bad choices are no excuse, right??

Nic Cage is an over-the-top, scenery chewing kind of actor. So when the role requires that kind of attitude like Leaving Los Vegas or Bringing Out the Dead (an unsung Scorsese masterpiece), then he's great.
But if the role requires him to tone it down and show some nuance, then he's not so good. Plus, his role selection has really let him down. The only film he's done in the last 7 years which was any good was Lord of War, but that wasn't exactly as masterpiece.

TheJman wrote:

Nic Cage is an over-the-top, scenery chewing kind of actor. So when the role requires that kind of attitude like Leaving Los Vegas or Bringing Out the Dead (an unsung Scorsese masterpiece), then he's great.
But if the role requires him to tone it down and show some nuance, then he's not so good. Plus, his role selection has really let him down. The only film he's done in the last 7 years which was any good was Lord of War, but that wasn't exactly as masterpiece.

I can agree with you that he is a scenery chewing actor. The problem with your argument is that you say the only film he has done in the last 7 years that was any good is Lord of War. You already named one great film (Bringing Out The Dead) and another masterpiece (Adaptation). I would also say that Matchstick Men is another great one. That is where it ends though. A couple times he seems to have at least tried to pick a good movie (World Trade Center) but I don't know if he isn't getting offered the parts or if he just likes to chose roles in bad movies, all I know is something needs to change. I lean towards the latter because out of all of the movies h has signed on to make one has a possibility of being good (Amarillo Slim), one will most likely be good (Electric God), and all of the others all look like they will be horrible. I will never understand how an actor of his stature repeatidly signs on to do movies that clearly look like they will be bad.

Back on topic though I am going to go with the obvious choice, I Am Legend, to own the Box Office Race. I do think though that Cloverfield is the better FM pick because of the fact that it is 12 dollars cheaper. That is what I have on my moguls slate. Those 12 extra dollars I used to pick up Walk Hard. I think the combination of those two movies is the far better choice then I Am Legend.

TheJman wrote:

Nic Cage is an over-the-top, scenery chewing kind of actor. So when the role requires that kind of attitude like Leaving Los Vegas or Bringing Out the Dead (an unsung Scorsese masterpiece), then he's great.
But if the role requires him to tone it down and show some nuance, then he's not so good. Plus, his role selection has really let him down. The only film he's done in the last 7 years which was any good was Lord of War, but that wasn't exactly as masterpiece.

Dude, that is exactly what I was gonna post. I was reading this whole Cage debate, and then I saw that you said exactly what was on my mind. Cage came on the scene as this new darling indie actor in the great Moonstruck. Then, he followed it up with his tour de force that was Leaving Las Vegas, and everyone thought we have a great new character actor coming out of the woodwork. And right as he was starting to be exhaulted by the Academy as the next big thing, he lost his friggin' way and decided he wanted to be America's next big action star. And so came Con Air, Face Off, The Rock. He wants to the next Sly Stallone and was on his way, too. Then throw in some really maudlin, sappy crap like City of Angels and Family Man. I thought he was going back to his roots with his awesome performance in Adaptation, but then he comes out with shit like NT and Next.

Now I did like Gone in Sixty Seconds. That is a guilty pleasure. But he shows so much potential acting wise, and he is determined to not live up to it. I guess he choices roles like NT to get the big pay checks, I just wish that he might intersperse more "Adaptation like" roles throughout his blockbuster crap, to sppeal to the fans who like films with a bit more substance. Actually, since Adaptation I did like the Weather Man, so I guess he does try a little bit.

well, a bunch of you seem to be raving about Adaptation, so maybe i'll give that a go....haven't seen that yet....but i HAVE seen Matchstick Men and Bringing out the Dead....nope, sorry, no cigar there....they weren't terrible, but nowhere near good....and someone mentioned (was it you mooreland??) about him wanting to be the next action star?? i completely agree that that's where he lost the plot completely....and he's never regained it since IMO....let me watch Adaptation and make my mind up on whether he still has something in him....i sure hope so....i used to be a big fan once....

PS>> why should Gone in 60 Seconds be a guilty pleasure mooreland?? i loved the movie, personally, thought it was Fast and the Furious, only a tiny bit better....controversial statement, but at different points of time, i like each of these two better than the other....though i sincerely think Gone was a little better made than FatF....

Good call deciding to watch Adaptation. If you have ever seen Being John Malkovich, another great film, expect the same style from Adaptation because they are both from the same writer. One of Cage's best performances and another one almost as good from Chris Cooper.

i AM a cooper fan, so it can only be good news i guess....i'll post back when i've watched Adaptation....i'm hoping not to be disappointed, because this'll pretty much be the last Cage straw for me if i am....

dranscht wrote:

For 35mm film, studios attach only one trailer to the film in the can, but there are usually another one or two loose in there. For us it's generally 2 studio trailers are required, sometimes three (usually if it's three it's the attached trailer plus two shorter ones), and then the rest are decided by a list corporate sends us every week. (The studio trailers are always on the top of said list; e.g., they're given highest priority for placement.)

It was funny back in August/September when we didn't have a trailer for The Mist. It was supposed to be the attached trailer on Halloween, but it didn't come on the digital hard drive for Halloween, for some reason. But the attached trailer has to be a same-studio movie, so in this case it had to be MGM, and pretty much our only choice was Feast of Love. Haha, didn't fit with Halloween at all.

Yeah, we also had Feast of Love on Halloween. So weird.

I love it when we get indie movies that are not on the MTP because then we can put whatever we want on it. Last week, when Noelle came out, my boss wanted me to put Water Horse and Great Debaters on it. I ended up putting those and then adding Speed Racer (since I hadn't seen it at the time), Iron Man (because it's amazing), and Cloverfield (since I hadn't seen it either). Fun times...

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